Welcome back to the story, fellow readers. I hope you enjoyed the previous chapter so far.
Last time, Prez told Trigger the story about the Federation Conflict which led to The Tokyo Incident which Monarch and Antares were involved in. Trigger would then tell both Prez and Amagi about the story of the Razgriz and how a simple fairytale became the name of the fighter squadron that ended the Circum-Pacific War.
Meanwhile, the Fortune Hunters lead by Nathan Zachary, captured a Leasath Freighter, rescued a survivor and discovered a large aircraft that was in the cargo hold, something that surprised the survivor.
As for the three Iron Blood Kansen in the Philippine Islands were inspecting a research facility when they found themselves in a hidden lab containing a pod similar to the one that held Tabloid, but when Nürnberg noticed a box containing a flight helmet with hot rod flames.
But who exactly is in the pod?
Well we're going to find out!
Let's dive right in!
Iron Blood Research Facility
San Isidro, Philippines
1540 hrs
In the municipality of San Isidro lies a research facility erected by the Iron Blood to study siren technology. When Red Axis took Central Luzon, they built this facility in the heart of the northern philippine island and every once and a while various kansen would inspect the progress being done in the facility. But with this particular group which had Z1, Nürnberg and Prinz Heinrich, they discovered a hidden lab that was housing a pod similar to the one that held the subject at the Orochi drydock.
But it also seemed that the flight helmet that Nürnberg was holding, had shown that whoever was in that pod, was a pilot. The Light Cruiser asked,
"There have been several inspections of this facility, how is it that no one had mentioned this in previous reports?"
Z1 thought about it and the way that they found the entrance to this lab and figured, "It has to be something that neither of us were supposed to know."
Heinrich remembered, "According to the report from Kyoten when Akashi found the subject at the drydock and got caught - she willingly went with Azur Lane out of fear of execution for knowing too much."
This made them realize the gravity of their situation because if someone catches them down here, then it's Auf Weidersehen. But still, their curiosity remains on who was in the pod and that curiosity made Z1 walk up to the pod and peer through the glass to see the person inside.
The destroyer saw what appeared to be a man and judging by the flight suit - he was a pilot. But she was also able to make out a patch on the upper left chest of his suit - which was that of an aircraft with five arrows. There was also a second patch on his shoulder which showed a barking dog, but what made her chuckle was the pilot's hair as she turned to her companions,
"Remember that rockstar known as 'The King?'"
The other two knew of someone with that title, a man from the 50s and 60s who invented rock & roll. So Nürnberg stated,
"Yes, we do."
The destroyer added, "Because this guy has a hairstyle similar to The King, I must say that he's most likely a fan of rock & roll."
Prinz Heinrich figured, "So we have a rock & roller pilot in this pod…"
Z1 looked closer and noticed another patch on his right shoulder, a familiar flag from previous reports, a white top, blue bottom and a circle of stars. She realized,
"This patch…it's the flag that was on the carrier that was with those modern ships…the recordings from the battle identified half of the ships and planes as Osean."
The Heavy Cruiser asked, "Are you saying that this pilot is from Osea?"
"There is no doubt about it, but from the looks of it - the sirens have had him for a long time."
Nürnberg asked, "How long has he been in there?"
The destroyer looked around to see if there were any data regarding the pilot until she found a datapad which had an audio recording of Bismarck as it said,
"Bismarck's Log, Subject: Pilot,
We have just got the pod containing this man from the Sirens. They apparently were able to bring this man to our world and put him in this pod nearly 9 years ago. But according to the box containing his belongings - he's obviously a pilot and the patch on his shoulder shows that he came from the nation that Three Strikes came from.
It's unclear why the Sirens had this human for nine years, but it seems that they were looking for something in him. But considering the experiments that the Siren conducted with the pilot in the Orochi drydock, it's hard to understand why. But I theorize that they are trying to find something in these special humans from this 'Strangereal' world.
But in any case, he could most likely be the first of them with Three Strikes being the first to arrive in our world willingly.
It's best that no one but myself knows about him, not even Tirpitz should know about this human.
End Log."
Upon hearing this recording, the three kansen couldn't be even more surprised by how long this pilot was here for as Nürnberg realized,
"9 years? He was here for 9 years?"
Prinz Heinrich was surprised, "But considering that it was from Bismarck meant that she knew that he was down here…and she didn't want anyone to know that he was here."
Z1 figured, "Which meant that previous inspections of this facility had intentionally overlooked this lab."
Nürnberg stated, "Which means we now know way too much because she would know that we are down here."
"And considering her fury after Tirpitz defected, she won't take kindly to us because we stumbled upon this secret."
Prinz Heinrich was thinking about the whole situation since they found this pilot and what would happen to them when Bismarck finds out. But then she thought back to why Tirpitz defected and why she chose to leave. After much thinking, she decided,
"There's only one viable option - we need to leave. I will not stand by and wait for Bismarck to slit our throats."
Z1 was concerned about this decision and asked, "Are you sure about this? We'll be marked as traitors for this."
Nürnberg assured the destroyer, "But considering what led to Prinz Eugen, Admiral Hipper and Z23 defecting, which was Bismarck's decision to hire Crimson and Varcolac Squadrons."
She soon turned to the pod, "But we're not leaving without him."
Both destroyer and heavy cruiser agreed that they needed to unseal the hushed casket. The trio looked around for any signs of a release mechanism to open the pod.
But Z1 found another datapad which showed a means of opening the pod as she says,
"I found it, let's get him out of there."
As she worked the controls on the pod, the pilot inside was reliving certain memories…
"There's the stadium, I'm dropping my plane over there."
"Roger. Now get out!"
"I can't…the electrical systems all messed up. The canopy won't blow and the ejection seat's probably not working either."
"Wait, go for a water landing in the river!"
"Blaze, I can't divert. Even if I could, I would rapidly lose altitude and crash into the houses before I reach the river. I'm sorry, Kid."
"Chopper…please…"
"Heh heh…I'm gonna miss that voice."
At that moment, the pilot's eyes opened to the sound of his pod opening up, his vision was a bit blurred, so didn't know where he was or what was going on. As his vision adjusted, he noticed the three kansen and his surroundings as he asked,
"Okay this is weird because I wouldn't think Heaven would be so alien. I can't imagine if I'm in Hell because there's no fire, brimstone or pit of despair neither. Is this really Heaven or Hell?"
Z1 stepped forward and said, "Unfortunately you are not in Heaven and you are not in Hell either."
The pilot was surprised by this as he stated, "How am I alive? I flew my plane into the center of an empty stadium during an air raid to protect the civilians. How am I even here and where am I actually?"
Prinz Heinrich spoke, "Calm down, I know you have questions, but I believe I can piece it together."
She soon stated, "You were taken from your world at the time of your sacrifice by the Sirens, they are a threat to our world and grew an interest in humans like you."
The man asked, "So wait, I was beamed from my plane before it hit the stadium by aliens?"
"In a way, but where you are is a different earth from your own with different land masses."
He suspiciously asked, "So if this is a different earth, where am I specifically?"
Nürnberg answered the question, "This is the Municipality of San Isidro on the Philippine Island of Luzon, but you're in a research facility that studies Siren Technology and you spent nine years in that pod while the Sirens and Red Axis studied you."
"Wait…did you say, 'nine years?' Has it been that long?!"
The light cruiser stated, "It's 2019 right now and it was 2010 when the Sirens 'saved' your life."
The man stepped out of the pod as he felt a bit wobbly before steadying himself. He turned to the kansen and asked,
"What is Red Axis anyway?"
Z1 stated, "It's a faction that all four of us need to escape from and we don't have any more time until they notice that we freed you. If you have any more questions, I suggest you save it until we're far away from this island."
The man soon picked up his helmet and clipped it to his waist before fishing out a Beretta pistol and a few magazines before loading the pistol,
"We get off the island and then we can play 20 Questions all day. But my last question is who are you?"
The kansen introduced themselves, starting with Z1, "I am Z1, a Destroyer for the Iron Blood."
Nürnberg went next, "I am Nürnberg, I'm a Light Cruiser for the Iron Blood."
The heavy cruiser went last, "I am Prinz Heinrich, Heavy Cruiser of the Iron Blood and huge admirer for the Three Strikes of Azur Lane!"
The pilot was confused about how the last one introduced herself, but decided to introduce himself,
"Well, I'm Captain Alvin H. Davenport, 108th Tactical Fighter Squadron of the Osean Air Defense Force as Wardog 3, TAC Name: 'Chopper.'"
Fortune Hunters
Leasath Freighter
150 miles from rendezvous point
1600 hrs
Upon contacting the Colonel, the Fortune Hunters' success in capturing the freighter, rescuing a survivor and identifying the cargo had reached the desk of Admiral Williams who had directed the Privateers to bring the freighter to Azur Lane HQ, to Royal Fortune's excitement when they got their orders.
But Nathan informed the Admiral that they were going to rendezvous with a VIP who defected from the Red Axis. Now they are on their way to the rendezvous point with Kaga and afterwards it's off to Hawaii.
Tex was able to get the freighter underway as crew from the Kennedy had been able to work on driving this ship. The Privateers were currently in the cargo hold as the sole survivor; Dr. Amelia Sanchez was inspecting the large aircraft that was found on the ship before looking at the blueprints. She was also ignoring any calls from the three pilots and the kansen as Tex pointed out,
"Wow, she's hard at work with this plane, Boss."
Nathan understood this as he said, "Technically she was never supposed to know about this since she was with the support staff, only the lead scientists knew about this."
Betty looked at the plane and said, "But I gotta admit, this plane is huge, and I thought the ASF-X flown by the Single Lines were higher spec."
Royal Fortune pointed out, "I may not know much of this kinda stuff, but it looks more like an oversized drone than a manned aircraft."
"It's not a drone, Royal Fortune. This was built to be used by a pilot." Said Amelia as she climbed up to the cockpit as it opened to see the pilot's seat and controls. She turned to the four,
"This craft has a Connection-to-Flight Interface system or COFFIN for short."
Nathan asked, "COFFIN?"
She climbed down the ladder as the cockpit closed, "It allows the pilot to connect their mind with the plane via pilot helmet and fly with thought or eye movement. The display panel will most likely show a 360-degree view of the plane itself. It's something I learned about in University which included photos of an aircraft that had this system - the ADF-01 FALKEN."
She reached into her pocket and pulled out a photo of the aircraft itself as the privateers saw the advanced forward swept wing aircraft, one showed it in the hangar while the second showed it in flight alongside two other aircraft. Betty recognized it,
"Wait a minute, I heard that during the second battle of this war, the Ace of Azur Lane used this aircraft to destroy a siren fleet that Red Axis was controlling."
Amelia shockingly asked, "Wait, the FALKEN is here?!"
Betty brought out a datapad and said, "This was a series of photos and videos taken during the battle."
The scientist scrolled through the photos, one seeing two kansen fighting each other, then a video showing a pink laser beam damaging a ship as a black aircraft flew by as the nose closed, concealing its laser weapon. But when she got a closer look, she saw the distinct shape as it destroyed the enemy fleet and the kansen retreated. She realized,
"That's Gründer Industries' ADF-01, it's incredible to see it in action and whoever was flying it must be one hell of a pilot. But the FALKEN's tail had three lines on it - three scratches. What does it mean?"
Nathan pointed out, "The three scratches is the symbol of the Ace of Azur Lane, the Three Strikes and he's been giving Red Axis a black eye and paving the way for the upcoming assault on the Philippines using long range strategic strikes."
She was surprised by this as she said, "I've heard of the Three Strikes, an Osean pilot who soared through the Lighthouse War, stopping Erusea's drone production and paving the way to a new frontier - to the Skies Unknown."
"So, he came from your world, too?"
Amelia stated, "Most likely, but enough about him since we are going to meet him eventually. But I need to tell you about this aircraft."
She directed them over to a table that had the blueprints of the plane as she stated,
"After further examination, this aircraft is designated as 'XFA-33 Fenrir' and looking at its blueprints, this is a prototype aircraft developed by my country. But these were not the only blueprints that I found…"
She placed a second set of blueprints on the table which showed the designs of a large aircraft which they recognized as similar to the aerial warships used by Red Axis. Amelia continued,
"These are for an Airborne Fortress which I discovered that two were built - the Gandr and the Gleipnir, judging from the more intense details of the second fortress, it means the first one is also a prototype. The Fenrir was also created jointly with the airborne fortresses - right after the Leasath Civil War."
Betty realized, "So this plane has that Navarro guy written all over it."
"Exactly, Brooklyn. After some digging, I found out that one of my deceased colleagues was actually an undercover agent for the Osean Intelligence Agency and had copies of classified information about Diego Navarro. According to the information, Diego Navarro was not only my country's head of state, but he also controlled its arms industry and he used continued conflict to amass an enormous fortune through arms sales following the end of the civil war."
Tex stated, "He is a war profiteer?"
Amelia nodded as she said, "And it gets worse, a lot of the humanitarian aid that Aurelia had sent during the civil war was misappropriated by Navarro for arms purchases. He was using the aid that would've been used for food to spend on arms and used the civil war as a means of making his fortune."
She felt disgusted, "That bastard didn't even use it to help my country, but instead built Gandr, Gleipnir and the XFA-33."
Royal Fortune realized, "Then this craft being here on this ship was because of him?"
"Apparently so."
Nathan remembered, "You mentioned that this came from Sentry Island before encountering the Sirens. Where is it in your world?"
The scientist replied, "Sentry Island is in the Dannern Islands just south of Leasath itself, but the Dannern Islands are also Leasath Territory, so it's still part of my country. I was only told that we were transporting a prototype being produced at the island."
"So, Sentry Island could be a production site for Fenrir."
Amelia agreed, "I fully believe that this aircraft was built on that island. I also believe that Navarro intended this to be his Superweapon which combat data from Gleipnir would be uploaded to the craft and when it does, more and more of these planes could be built."
Betty was surprised, "So there is going to be more of these things?"
The scientist nodded, "Navarro intends for this aircraft to be his 'endgame,' his goal to build more of these planes to ensure that he would get even more rich through arms sales."
Tex figured, "A war profiteer with a plan is always a dangerous prospect." She soon looks at the plan, "Despite being the product of a dictator who profits off of conflict, Fenrir is a really advanced aircraft."
The scientist admitted, "I hate to admit that the design and technology behind this aircraft is very advanced. Aside from its COFFIN System, the plane uses dual thrust vectoring nozzles and a small power plant in the middle, giving it VTOL capabilities. According to the blueprints, Fenrir was designed to act as a testbed for experimental technologies utilized by the Gleipnir since the Airborne Fortress's blueprints included an optical camouflage system to cloak itself thus making it difficult to spot in midair, both visually and with radar."
Nathan stated, "The fact is that if combat data from the airborne fortress is uploaded to this plane, it would be very formidable, Amelia."
"But aside from the design and technology that's on par with Gründer Industries, the XFA-33's weapon system includes dual auto cannons and short-range missiles. But it's also going to be equipped with special air-to-air and air-to-surface missiles and a small-scale version of a missile that's used as the Gandr and Gleipnir's primary weapon - the Shock Wave Ballistic Missile. But there were also schematics for a microwave weapon."
Royal Fortune asked, "You mean a microwave isn't just for cooking?"
She shook her head and brought out a schematic, "No, not that kind of microwave, this energy weapon is a High-Powered Microwave or HPM for short. If I were to guess the weapon works under the principle of amplifying microwave resonance to ignite jet fuel."
The pirate kansen stated, "Igniting jet fuel, how exactly does this microwave weapon work anyway?"
The scientist described it, "By using Fenrir as an airborne emitter for this weapon. When a ground-based emitter and an airborne emitter both direct microwave beams in the direction of the target, an overlapping effect is created where the beams connect. The resonant amplification of the microwaves, combined with the large output from the ground-based emitter results in the target point of the HPM becoming visible to the naked eye in the form of an apparent energy sphere."
Betty figured, "So after this sphere is formed and the target aircraft is caught in it, then boom?"
Amelia nodded and stated, "The effect of the microwaves' amplification is almost immediately apparent, as the fuel temperature of the target aircraft will rise rapidly before igniting and destroying the aircraft. So yeah, the end result in layman's term is 'Boom.'"
Royal Fortune, having worked alongside these pilots, realized, "That is some crazy science for a weapon to be mounted onto this aircraft. But a weapon like that is dangerous to a pilot who's unaware of the danger, but an aware pilot could increase their speed and run when they see the sphere, then remove the airborne emitter from the skies."
Amelia realized, "You're right, Royal Fortune. It definitely depends on the pilot's reaction and ability to counter the HPM."
"I may be a sailing ship from the Golden Age of Piracy, but I was reborn in the modern time."
The scientist agreed since it's not bad to branch out as she noticed a destination notice on the HPM blueprints,
"It also seems like these were supposed to be going to Cobalt Cave, most likely to be developed there. Too bad they won't receive this, but no doubt Navarro would have backups."
After she finished, Nathan had digested whatever information that Amelia had told them, about Fenrir and its weapons as he was surprised,
"That's some powerful weaponry for a fighter, but to think that your country built it and an aerial warship."
Amelia had a thought, "I think Navarro and his Inner Circle were inspired to build Gleipnir because of the heavy command cruiser built by the Belkans called XB-0 and the command cruiser built by the Estovakians called 'P-1112 Aigaion.' Both were huge planes built for war, the XB-0 was built during the Belkan War of 1995 and Aigaion was used to invade the capital, Gracemeria at the start of the Emmeria-Estovakia War in August 2015, but would be shot down by a unit called Garuda Team. So, no doubt that Navarro would be inspired by XB-0 and Aigaion to build Gleipnir - using the money that he stole."
Betty curiously asked, "You think that this airborne fortress is going to be used for that 'war of retribution' against Aurelia?"
"I'm certain since Gleipnir's weaponry and optical camouflage would not only conceal it from both eyesight and radar, its SWBM would be devastating for the Aurelian Military and many Leasath soldiers will die as pawns in Navarro's sick game. But there's also the fact that an OIA Agent was among my colleagues - it means that Navarro was on Osea's watchlist."
Nathan figured, "You have a war profiteer as head of state taking advantage of conflict to increase arms sales, trading weapons for money. It's no doubt that his activity would catch the attention of a foreign country's intelligence agency."
She agreed, "Osea is probably monitoring his movements to see what he's up to since that's all they can do. But if war is declared between my country and Aurelia, we just have to rely on the Aurelian military and hopefully - an Ace to break through the Skies of Deception."
She soon turned away from the table and back to the Fenrir as she said,
"But I think I have talked enough about my home since I can't do anything about it, but I'm here in this world and I have Diego Navarro's beloved Fenrir. I bet he's sitting in his office at Alendal boiling in his expensive brandy by now and can't do anything about it except build another one."
The four agreed as Royal Fortune remembered, "So when ye talked about the Fenrir, you mentioned it being a testbed."
The scientist nodded, "Exactly, the XFA-33 is meant to be a testbed for the technology used by the Gleipnir, so in a way, this prototype is meant to be equipped with the same optical camouflage as the airborne fortress. But I theorized that the amount of power needed for the camouflage to work would be too much for a single fighter plane of its size, so it would have to draw the required energy from a ground-based power station nearby. If the Fenrir flies too far from the power station or the power station is destroyed - then it will lose its optical camouflage."
"Then why have the camouflage system on Gleipnir work fine while Fenrir would suffer problems keeping invisible?"
Amelia was curious, "I believe it's because the Fenrir is a fighter jet and the Gleipnir is an aerial warship due to it having a larger power plant than the fighter."
The pirate kansen thought about it and remembered seeing the sizes of those airships like Spiridus and Orgoi, used by the Golden Axe Plan and the large Heavy Command Cruisers. She may be a sailing ship from the Golden Age of Piracy, but she knew a thing or two about aerial warships and realized,
"That does make sense."
Fort Magsaysay Airfield, Luzon
1650 hrs
Fort Magsaysay was a base used by the Philippine Army for training and was also used as a relocation site for the people left homeless by the 1991 eruption of Mt. Pinatubo on the other side of Luzon. The base had a small runway, apron and aircraft maintenance facility to service small planes like Cessnas, after the planetfall of Ulysses, the Philippine government would modernize the base to extend the runway and modernize its facilities to accommodate and maintain military aircraft.
But now, the fort is used as a base for Red Axis as Siren Droids patrol the fort while also maintaining the drone jets parked on the runway. But for the three Iron Blood Kansen and one Osean pilot, this was the only other airfield that they could find a flyable aircraft and it wasn't so heavily guarded.
Looking through the binoculars from the foliage, Chopper stated, "You're right, kid. That fort isn't so heavily guarded, I'm guessing you were there before?"
Z1 stated, "I was just there this morning when I got the call to go to the facility."
Nürnberg stated, "We should hope there's something there that's not only flyable, but able to fit all four of us."
Prinz Heinrich agreed, "Eisen and I would walk the apron and see the occasional drones, but there are also manned aircraft there."
The four knew that their only way out was at the base. So, they made their move as they snuck through the checkpoint while silently taking down the droids that patrol the base and avoiding various patrols as they hid between the hangars as they had a nice view of the runway and the aircraft parked there.
The three kansen looked out at the runway and saw a few manned fighter aircraft, mainly F/A-18s, SU-33s, Rafales and MiG-29Ks. This was a bit odd for these planes to be here as most of the base were dominated by siren aircraft.
Nürnberg sighed, "Mainly fighter aircraft, not enough room for four of us and we have only one certified pilot."
Z1 realized, "Verdammt, I thought we could escape using this airfield because I don't see any transport aircraft."
Chopper looked around and spotted something that could actually be useful and said, "I think I found our way off this island."
The kansen were confused until the pilot pointed to a large aircraft parked on the apron which is much larger than the fighters parked at the base. Prinz Heinrich recognized the large aircraft because the crooked outer wings and exposed hangar bay,
"An Orgoi? Can you fly one of those?"
The Osean stated, "Well, not really, but it's the only thing big enough to carry all four of us out. First time for everything."
The Iron Blood kansen were a bit reluctant to capture an Orgoi and fly it out of there. Z1 stated,
"I hope you know what you're doing, Chopper."
"So do I, kid."
The four made their way across the runway while ducking behind the parked planes to avoid the droids patrolling the runway. They were also able to thin out the patrols by pulling them out of sight and silently destroying them.
Afterwards, they were able to reach the Orgoi by entering the ship's hangar as they made their way to get to the bridge. But as they made their way across, Chopper noticed a few aircraft in the racks,
"Fighter jets? This thing's an airborne aircraft carrier?"
Nürnberg saw this and noticed, "There are F-18s, SU-33s and F-35s in the racks…but no siren drones. This Orgoi wasn't modified to deploy the drones."
"Whoa, this is weird stuff, man."
Z1 pointed out, "We still need to reach the bridge and get this airship in the air."
Prinz Heinrich agreed, "Then we better go because Eisen is anxious to get out of here."
The four made their way up to the cockpit of Orgoi as they destroyed any siren battle droids that they found in the ship. They did come across some little Manjuus which made Chopper feel a bit confused by the yellow birds until Z1 explained their purpose.
Upon reaching the Orgoi's cockpit, there were thankfully no battle droids, so knowing that they need to get to work on getting the aerial aircraft carrier in the air as Chopper took the pilot's seat,
"Okay folks, hope you fasten your seatbelts and make sure your seats and tray tables are up in their full-upright and locked position because we'll be making an emergency takeoff momentarily."
The three knew that was a joke as they each took a seat at a terminal while the four Manjuu took their seats as the pilot looked over the controls and started up to the engines of the Orgoi.
But unbeknownst to them, the aircraft's engines starting up did not go unnoticed.
Fort Magsaysay Command Room
At the command center for the fort, a few Iron Blood and Sakura kansen were working at their terminals while the higher ranking kansen walked past. It was at this point that one of the kansen, a Sakura Light Carrier named Junyou noticed some strange activity on the runway, specifically the Orgoi that was parked there.
The carrier realized that the engines had started up without authorization. Looking over the security footage and rewinding it, she noticed four individuals enter the aircraft and upon zooming in, she saw the three Iron Blood kansen and one pilot that had the recognizable Osean flag on the shoulder.
For Junyou, seeing that flag think back to when she saw the photo of Three Strikes from the ruins with that same patch. This made her caress a homemade wolf patch with the claw scratches as she could feel him like if he were a childhood friend. She had never encountered him in battle, but she wished to witness his awesome power firsthand.
But she knew that this man wasn't the Ace of Azur Lane, so she reported this to her superiors,
"Takao-San, Graf Zeppelin, there's a problem."
That's when heavy cruiser Takao and aircraft carrier Graf Zeppelin came over to her as the cruiser asked,
"What's the problem?"
The light carrier pointed to the screen as the scene shows the Orgoi starting the engine as she stated,
"That's Orgoi 1-6, unauthorized engine start."
They were surprised by this as the light carrier reversed the footage to show the three kansen and the Osean pilot among them as Takao asked,
"Who is that man?"
Junyou pointed out, "According to the patch on his flight suit, he's Osean, but we didn't know if he had infiltrated the island."
"He didn't…"
That was said by the two PR Kansen, Large Cruiser Hindenburg and Battlecruiser Odin as they approached the terminal, Hindenburg stated,
"He must've been there as well."
Graf Zeppelin asked, "Where?"
The Large Cruiser stated, "The Research Facility in San Isidro and surprisingly, there was a human in there."
The Battlecruiser stated, "And now they have seemingly gone soft and are trying to escape with what they saw."
Odin and Hindenburg stormed out of the command center as the three were a bit baffled by this. Takao realized,
"He was kept at the facility in San Isidro? But we inspected that place, how did we not know that he was there?!"
Graf Zeppelin stated, "Another secret that Lord Bismarck did not wish to reveal to any of us."
Fort Magsaysay Airfield
Even though he hadn't gotten off the ground yet, Captain Davenport was doing pretty well with taxiing the large aircraft to the runway as the remaining battle droids tried to pursue them.
As he reached takeoff position on the runway, he announced,
"Runway is hot, but we're taking off now! Engines full power!"
The two main engines of the Orgoi came to life as they pushed the huge aircraft down the runway. It was a tense moment with speed building up as they were losing runway until several shots tried to hit them. Chopper yelled,
"Whoa! Who's shooting at us?!"
Prinz Heinrich checked the camera position on the rear of the aircraft and saw the red-haired PR Large Cruiser with her dragon rigging and the silver-red haired PR Battlecruiser with her rigging out and opening fire on them,
"It's Hindenburg and Odin! They're trying to stop us!"
"Too bad for them!" He pulled up on the stick as the huge aircraft lifted into the air as the two kansen's riggings tried to shoot the Orgoi down, but despite its size, its nimble maneuvers were able to avoid their shots as a few of the airship's defense guns spun up and fired on their position as several missiles were launched and struck the parked siren drones as they exploded, leaving only a few manned aircraft. Afterwards, the Orgoi sped off into the distance.
The cruiser and battlecruiser could only watch the aerial warship fly away as Takao and Graf Zeppelin caught up to them. They were surprised by the betrayal of three Iron Blood Kansen and the theft of an Orgoi. Hindenburg knew that she failed to stop them from taking off while Odin couldn't believe it and yet, realized that it was true.
But despite failing to stop the renegade Orgoi from escaping, Hindenburg had another option as she turned to her colleagues,
"Send a message to Kyoten that three Iron Blood ships have found an Osean pilot and have escaped via Orgoi. I recommend sending Deutschland, Admiral Graf Spee, Jade and Regensburg and deploy the Intercept Specialists that the Peacekeepers have recommended."
The two nodded as they went to contact the GHQ at Kyoten, not before Hindenburg turned to Odin and stated,
"You and Junyou are going with the pursuit team to find and shoot down that Orgoi."
She nodded and said, "I won't fail you."
Orgoi 1-6
As they passed the shoreline of the island and made their way out to sea, the four cheered at the fact that they escaped from the Philippines. They were now heading East away from the Philippines towards allied territory as the Orgoi's autopilot was engaged, Z1 stated,
"As we agreed, we can answer your questions. So, what do you wish to know?"
Chopper had many questions to ask, but he started with this one,
"You said that I was in that pod for nine years?"
Nürnberg stated, "You were and according to a datapad, the sirens were looking for something in you and neither of us knew what it was since Bismarck's acquisition of you was recent."
The pilot sighed, "The last thing that I remember was closing my eyes just before my F-15 hit the center of the stadium in November City. But it was only until I wasn't burning alive or any indication that I died that I opened my eyes to see that I wasn't dead and there was this half-naked girl with tentacles looking at me with a look of hunger."
Z1 knew who he was talking about, "Mein Gott…"
"Someone you know?"
The destroyer corrected, "Mutual Friend of Red Axis, but not our friend. That half-naked girl was a humanoid Siren called 'Observer' and she must have been the one who brought you to our world, but also put you in that pod as she did some experiments on a pilot before placing him in another pod."
When Chopper heard the word 'experiments,' he felt a bit creeped out as he discreetly checked below the waist to ensure that he had his dignity.
Nürnberg figured out what he was doing, "We already scanned you while you were in that pod, and you still have them."
He felt relieved, "That's a relief because sexual assault by alien is one thing, but finding out that this Observer stole my nuts would not be pretty."
The three kansen were aware of the various reports of alien abductions before the fall of Ulysses and what they claimed of what aliens did to the abductees. So it wasn't a surprise that the man would be freaked out about what Observer was doing to him. Afterwards, the pilot soon asked,
"You called yourselves Iron Blood, is that a nation?"
"The Iron Blood is one of the four major nations in our world. We are a strong and powerful nation with powerful battleships and hunter-killer submarines."
Chopper asked, "What other nations are there?"
Nürnberg joined in, "There's the Eagle Union which specializes with powerful aircraft carriers, fast battleships and efficient repair ships, Sakura Empire is composed of ships for their Combined Fleet and the Royal Navy has powerful battleships in service to their Queen and they are the Iron Blood's rival in sea power."
The pilot was curious, "Just those four?"
"There are some minor nations like the Dragon Empery in Asia which has a much smaller fleet, the Iris Orthodoxy of France has a large fleet, the Sardegna Empire has a moderately sized fleet in the Mediterranean and the Northern Parliament has their Modern Pacific Fleet and their fleet of kansen."
Chopper then had his next question, "What is a kansen?"
Prinz Heinrich described, "Shipgirls or Kansen are living embodiments of historical ships from throughout history. Each shipgirl has the memories of their former lives through the men that served aboard them and we shipgirls were reborn via Wisdom Cubes, mysterious items that appeared after the Sirens began to attack humanity. So far many studies of our abilities have been taken into account, such as us interacting with our riggings like Eisen."
She emphasized this by showing her rigging as the toothed bow look around a bit, likely curious that it's on a plane instead of the water,
"Our riggings can go into inactive mode when anchored in a harbor, but when we go on the water, we can summon our riggings to skim across the waves and use our big guns to fight. It's been like this ever since the essence of USS Constitution was reborn as a kansen and many others have followed, mainly ships from the 1920s, 30s and 40s."
The rock & roller was surprised by this as he said, "This is a lot to take in."
Z1 stated, "It is, but others like you have already been told about what we are."
"Wait…others?"
The destroyer gave him a datapad showing a fleet of modern ships and planes protecting a freighter and a squadron of four F-15Cs with two F-22s as the lead Raptor had three scratches on the tail. But Chopper recognized the flags on the ships,
"Those are Osean ships, so I'm not the only one here. But apparently, there's some Erusean ships here as well."
Prinz Heinrich stated, "They actually assaulted a Siren portal in your world and came to ours."
This confused Captain Davenport, "Why did they do that exactly?"
The heavy cruiser pointed to the fighter squadron, specifically the flight lead, "Because of him."
He was curious as he zoomed in on the F-22 which was as memorable as any other fighter. But the difference that set this Raptor apart was the three scratches on the tail.
"This flight lead is flying an F-22 Raptor, but the tail looks different. Three lines - scratches?"
Heinrich stated, "That is the Commander of the Anti-Siren Coalition Force known as Azur Lane. He commands the shipgirls of Azur Lane and is fiercely protective of his charges. He also stands out since most commanders are naval officers, but he is a pilot like you."
The image on the datapad shifted to the footage of the ruins showing a young man holding a rifle shooting the rigging attach point of Takao. Chopper noticed how the man was wearing body armor over his flight suit, but he can make out the emblem of a wolf biting a gun on his shoulder which he saw next to the scratches on the F-22 from the previous image. He looked closely at the picture and realized one obvious aspect,
"He's young, but then again, my wingman, Grimm, was 19 when he joined the Wardog Squadron."
When he mentioned his wingman, he felt curious about what became of his wingmen since they were at war with Yuktobania, but he was feeling a bit suspicious about the whole war, including when the mysterious 8492nd Squadron committed a war crime by attacking an engineering university in the area where his squadron was stopping an aerial withdraw. He and his squadron were sent Oured for questioning and despite stating that the 8492nd was in the area, the judge stated that there is no squadron in the OADF with that number. He remembered being frustrated by the claims that the 8492nd didn't exist despite him and his wingmen claiming that they do exist.
But the trial was halted when reports of attacks on Bana City and Apito International Airport by Yuktobanian Special Forces Commandos came in and Wardog flipped the coin for the Bana mission.
The thing that bugged Chopper was that ever since Operation Footprint, he could only wonder if there was something going on behind the scenes, why the President authorized an escalation of the war when he was hoping to hold peace talks with the Prime Minister of Yuktobania in the neutral country of North Point in Usea. Why escalate the war when he was hoping to hold peace talks in neutral territory?
He didn't know what happened afterwards because technically - he 'died' before ever finding out what the hell was going on. But as he thought about his wingmen, he could only wonder one thing,
"Did Blaze and Nagase finally hook up?"
Azur Lane Airfield
December 23rd, 2019
0700 hrs
The bright sun shines on the island of Oahu as the humans and shipgirls rise from their nightly slumber. The Royal Maids set up for breakfast as the base personnel are set for any upcoming assignments for the day.
But above the base, three F/A-18Es and two F/A-18Fs were in formation as they were accompanied by an E-767 as the lead Super Hornet announced,
"Rooster to Long Caster, all planes are in formation."
AWACS Long Caster stated, "High copy, Rooster. All planes, listen up, I know you barely had time for breakfast today, but your instructors insisted on an exercise this morning."
The Top Gun grads were curious until a familiar voice spoke, "Good morning, aviators. This is Trigger and I will be your instructor alongside Captain Pete Mitchell, TAC Name: Maverick."
Maverick's voice was on the comm as he spoke, "Today's exercise is two-on-two dogfight, guns only, no missiles. We do not go below the hard deck of 5,000 feet."
"Working as a team, you have to shoot us down or else."
Payback asked, "Or else what, sir?"
The Osean stated the obvious, "Or else we shoot back."
Maverick added, "If we shoot either one of you down, you both lose."
Hangman whispered, "This guy needs an ego check. We'll see to that."
Trigger pointed out, "I heard that, Hangman."
The pilot from the Stennis was surprised that the Ace heard his whisper.
But Payback added, "What say we put some skin in the game?"
The Ace asked, "What do you have in mind?"
"Whoever gets shot down first has to do 200 push-ups?"
Mav stated, "Guys, that's a lot of pushups."
Fanboy pointed out, "They don't call it an exercise for nothing, sir."
But Trigger had a better idea, "200 is too much, 100 pushups will do, but how about a little treat. Whoever of you aviators survives the longest before being shot down in these fights will face me in a one-on-one no hard deck duel."
Phoenix spoke, "Wait, a duel against you!?"
Coyote asked, "Why?"
Trigger stated, "To show what you can do when going up against an Ace pilot in a real world situation."
Payback pointed out, "Because in a real fight, there is no hard deck, sir?"
Maverick stated, "That's correct, you all saw how he fought against Crimson and Varcolac - he's the best pilot for his age and plus, there's no regulations for a real battle."
Hangman was anxious, "For someone as young as him to be an Ace, I'm looking to test myself against him."
That's when Fanboy spoke, "Wait sir, if we're going to engage you in a two-on-two dogfight, how come we have five aircraft? This is an odd number considering the exercise."
Trigger knew this as he said, "You're correct about that, Fanboy. But don't worry, there's an SDF pilot who recently arrived and she will be joining us in this exercise."
At that moment, a sixth aircraft pulled up alongside the Top Gun pilots, it was an F-15J bearing the insignias of the Air Self-Defense Force and a brown bear on the tail. They were a bit surprised to see an SDF pilot joining them as a female voice announced,
"Strider 1, I am Captain Maumi Orishina from the 201st Tactical Fighter Squadron. I'm looking forward to this exercise to see what you can do."
"Good to have you in the air, be ready because the fight's on in 5 minutes."
The SDF pilot understood this as she pulled alongside Phoenix and Bob while Long Caster told the second instructor,
"Maverick, during this exercise, your callsign is Strider 2, you'll be under Strider 1."
He soon spoke to the first pair, "Rooster, Payback, you two are up for the first duel."
Both pilots understood this as the others separated to observe the first duel.
Once the non-combatants were cleared, Trigger stated,
"All right, ladies and gentlemen, fight's on."
Maverick agreed, "Let's turn and burn."
Both pilots soon hit the throttle and pulled up as they flew towards the rookies.
Meanwhile Rooster and Payback were looking around to find them as Rooster asked his wingman's WSO,
"Fanboy, you see them?"
The WSO stated, "Nothing on the radar ahead. They must be somewhere behind us."
But that wasn't the case as they were surprised when an F/A-18E and an XFA-27 bearing the three strikes blew through them as both planes rolled as Rooster yelled,
"Damn it!"
Fanboy was surprised, "What the hell!?"
Payback was equally surprised, "Oh shit!"
The two planes soon did a loop as Trigger asked, "Strider 2, are you good?"
Maverick stated, "I'm fine, Strider 1. Just trying not to get fired on the first exercise."
"Then let's make your first day count."
As the two planes soon closed in on the rookies, Fanboy warned,
"Tally tally tally! Trigger and Maverick are coming in! Break left!"
His pilot agreed, "Breaking left!"
The two-seater broke left as Maverick went after him while the XFA-27 went after Rooster.
While Maverick went after Payback, Trigger went after Rooster as the Top Gun pilot was trying to shake off the XFA-27 which Rooster pointed out,
"That's kinda unfair to use an advanced aircraft in a training exercise."
Trigger stated, "Technically this aircraft is an old model built in haste to quell a coup d'etat. But it's how the pilot handles the plane, not the aircraft's spec, Rooster."
As the gun reticle was closing in on Rooster, he heard his wingman call out,
"Rooster, where are you?"
The Top Gun pilot spoke, "I'm shaking Trigger off my tail, but I got your back. Hang in there!"
Payback was trying to keep his cool as he said, "Hurry up, man. Hurry up!"
As Payback was trying to shake Maverick as the veteran pilot was getting his gun reticle on his target, Rooster was in a good position as he ordered his wingman,
"Payback, break right."
"Breaking right!"
The F/A-18F broke right as Rooster's hornet got in Maverick's way as Payback made an escape.
Trigger noted, "Rooster saved your life, fellas."
The Captain added, "But it'll cost him."
But he wasn't going to take this lying down, "Not this time, old man!"
He did a dive loop as he led Maverick on a pursuit as Pete said to himself,
"Don't let him get to you, Maverick."
As Rooster led Maverick on a ride as the young pilot shook off the veteran pilot, Trigger was taking an alternate approach to the dogfight as he noticed that the Lieutenant was hitting the hard deck. Long Caster stated,
"Rooster, you're hitting the hard deck, raise your altitude immediately!"
He saw the altitude indicator and realized that he had to raise altitude, only to get caught in a pincer move as the gun reticle of the XFA-27 turned red as Trigger announced,
"Strider 1 has a kill. Rooster destroyed."
The Top Gun pilot said, "Damn it."
Trigger pulled alongside Rooster as he said, "When fighting against two formidable enemies, always be aware of pincer attacks."
Rooster sighed as he saw Maverick's F-18 pull alongside Trigger's wing and felt irritated that he, of all people, was also participating in these exercises let alone to be assigned to this base in general. Maverick stated,
"Stay a while and watch the remaining fights and then return to base. Nevada will be managing the pushups."
As the first duel concluded, the next ones up were Coyote and Orishina.
As the two were in formation, Coyote spoke, "It's been a while since I've worked with an SDF pilot. Why did you come here anyway?"
Orishina stated, "To learn more about air combat and dogfighting. Hisashi-San wanted a pilot of the SDF to be stationed at this base and I accepted. It's actually exciting to learn from the Three Strikes and I'm willing to do my best."
That's when Trigger spoke, "That's the spirit of someone who wants to learn. So, let's see what the SDF has taught you. Fight's on!"
The XFA-27 blew through them head-on as they broke to the sides.
Coyote was surprised, "Whoa. He came in that fast! Where's Maverick?"
"Right above you, Coyote."
The F/A-18E came in from above as the Top Gun pilot moved to avoid him while Orishina moved to cover her wingman to keep the offending fighter off of him. Which Maverick noticed,
"You never left your wingman, that's good training."
The female pilot took this as a compliment as she shook Maverick off of her as the XFA-27 came back into the fight. The advanced fighter brushed past her as she had the urge to go after him but continued to keep Maverick off of Coyote. But that wasn't until she spotted Trigger pursuing him as she immediately broke off from Maverick.
Back with Trigger, he was pursuing Coyote as the Union pilot was trying to shake the Ace off. He cried out,
"Orishina, Trigger's on my six! Where are you?!"
At that moment, her F-15J blew through as Coyote peeled off as Trigger pursued her as he complimented her,
"You just saved Coyote's life; I see that the SDF trains their pilots well."
As the gun reticle moved in on her, the SDF pilot hit the brakes as her Eagle flew right past him as she was now on the offensive. Trigger realized that she was good and as he conducted evasive maneuvers as Maverick called out,
"Strider 1, bogey on your tail. Do you need my help?"
He replied, "Negative Strider 2, keep on Coyote."
The veteran pilot understood as he continued his pursuit while Trigger was looking to do something in order to get on her six.
As Orishina's gun reticle zeroed in on his plane, she figured,
"I thought he was better." But at that moment, the XFA-27's wings opened as the plane immediately performed a post-stall maneuver as the plane lifted up and used its rudders to move to the right as the advanced aircraft flew right past her before righting itself as she said in her language,
"Shinjirarenai! Kore ga Mittsu Sutoraiku!"
She was back on the defensive as she tried to shake him off until she heard the warning alarms in her cockpit, indicating that she had been 'hit' as Trigger pulled up alongside her,
"That was some great flying, Orishina. You were able to get on my six and almost take me down."
She felt humbled by his words as she went red under her helmet and oxygen mask, "Well…I thank you for the compliment, Strider 1."
"You're welcome, but in the meantime, it's going to be Hangman and Phoenix's turn. Regroup with the others and observe."
As they regrouped to commence the final fight before deciding who faces off against Trigger, on the tarmac standing next to a grounded CFA-44, holding a cup of coffee, was Enterprise as she observed the exercises from below. Nevada was also nearby as she was on station to issue the push-ups for the pilots who got shot down first.
The exercises were enjoyable to watch since it displayed the capabilities of the pilots and how they handled their aircraft. The carrier could recall a video call from Yorktown as her sister recalled the various combat training exercises pitting her Wildcats against the rookie pilots who flew T-45 Goshawks. The lead carrier recalled the ambush in which Trigger led Squall Squadron for combat training, only to get ambushed by those Siren Jets which was actually the day that the Grey Ghost met the Three Strikes.
It was very interesting since she was pretty much a drone shrouded by the memories of her historical past and her stubbornness to not listen to Vestal. But being with Trigger made her rediscover one crucial aspect of not only being a kansen - but to being human as well. It was a rediscovery of that emotion because when her and her sisters were reborn, she felt what it was to be human. But losing it after going through combat and being more involved, reducing her personality to a drone and as she thought back to when she would be in those dreams and seeing Little Enterprise guiding her through Trigger's memories.
As she thought about it, she actually saw a glimpse of the little girl near the tires of a parked F-18 giggling and waving before vanishing. Soon enough, she heard a voice,
"Watching the show, sis?"
The carrier turned towards the source to find Hornet and New Jersey approaching her. She stated,
"When you put that way, yes I'm watching the training exercises that Trigger and Maverick are putting the pilots through."
Her sister noticed as she looked up at the training exercise while listening to the radio transmissions from the fighters which was Hangman teasing Phoenix about her WSO's nickname while she countered with Hangman's TAC Name.
That wasn't until Maverick blew through them head on at high speed while Trigger emerged from below them as Maverick announced,
"Greetings Aviators. Fight's on!"
So Hangman and Phoenix were looking to take the veteran and Ace pilot out as the female pilot broke right as Hangman pulled up.
The Kansen watching this from below sighed as New Jersey said,
"That's why they call him Hangman since he will always hang you out to dry."
Hornet pointed out, "He left his wingman, that's something we haven't seen in a while."
They watched as the two instructors focused on Phoenix as she attempted to shake them off. But as she attempted to shake off the instructors, Hangman appeared from behind hoping to set his gun reticle on Trigger as the radio went,
"For all you folks at home, this is how you put a kid back in the sandbox."
The kansen heard Trigger's voice from the radio, "Mav, you get Phoenix while I teach Hangman a lesson."
Maverick's voice was heard, "Show him what you got, Kid!"
The advanced plane soon broke right as Hangman stated,
"Let's go Trigger! Let's see what you've got!"
The two planes were in a dogfight as the XFA-27 was shaking the F-18 off, but still was able to keep on his six as he bragged,
"Evil be gone, Hangman's coming!"
The gun reticle was closing in on Trigger's plane as the shipgirls might actually see someone down Trigger as they heard him say,
"This guy's good, but you're gonna have to try harder than that!"
He shifted his plane up towards the sun as he positioned himself in a way that the sunlight would obscure Hangman's vision.
It worked as the cocky pilot was blinded by the sunlight as they heard him call out, "Phoenix, I can't see him. How close am I? Phoenix?"
That's when Trace stated, "Maverick already got me. I'm dead, dickhead."
Her WSO stated, "See you in the afterlife, Bagman."
The shipgirls watching from below saw that the XFA-27 took advantage of his opponent's temporary blindness as he moved under the F-18 while Hangman was determined to spot him,
"Where is he? Where is he?"
It wasn't until he heard his cockpit's warning alarm as he looked behind him and saw the XFA-27 on his six as Trigger said,
"That's a kill. I may be young, but I've been through a lot."
"Damn it!"
Trigger added, "Additionally, you went after me for your own ego. You lived up to your TAC Name by hanging your wingman out to dry. So I'm having you do 200 pushups instead of 100. Enjoy them once you land."
The three shipgirls chuckled at the pilot getting a bigger push-up punishment for being cocky. NJ stated,
"Serves him right."
Enterprise agreed, "It's kind of like Zuikaku in a way since she would go after me for the satisfaction of beating me."
Hornet pointed out, "She almost got you until Trigger and Belfast intervened with the Falken."
The Grey Ghost agreed as she glanced at Count and Hüxian washing the ADF-01 with support from the Royal Maids.
With no combat sorties, it was a training day for the pilots which is why they were out here at the airfield at 7am. But since Christmas Eve is tomorrow, the pilots need to at least get some training under their belts before they enjoy the festivities, but the shipgirls, primarily those who have the hearts for their commander, are hoping to buy some festive outfits in order to impress him.
But as Enterprise watched as the final duel occurred between the XFA-27 and F-15J, she saw how evenly matched they were. She knew that the SDF pilot was good and was able to adapt from her mistakes in the last duel. But as the Eagle was trying to take the advanced plane down, the XFA-27 did a barrel roll over the opponent as the SDF pilot went on the defensive as she shook the Ace off and went on the offensive as he soon took a dive towards the water because the hard deck was removed for the final duel. That made it look like a real battle between Aces with no limitations since an exercise is nothing like real combat, considering that she witnessed the duel between Trigger and Mihaly at Yinshi in her dream.
As he pulled up and skimmed across the water, Orishina attempted to get a gun hit on him, only for the XFA-27 to pull up and attempt evasive maneuvers. The F-15J soon tried to get her reticle on the Osean until the wings opened as he pulled a Cobra maneuver as the plane's nose lifted up as she flew right by him as the plane leveled off and was now on her six. Orishina's voice sounded amazed,
"Incredible…"
Soon after that maneuver, her warning alarms went off as she was 'down' as Trigger pulled alongside her plane and said,
"You've improved since your first fight, and you were able to keep on my six for a while. Now I know that the SDF have trained you well."
She confessed, "My family has been flying planes since the Second World War, my grandfather was a pilot who survived and became a flight instructor when the JASDF was established, my father became a fighter pilot afterwards and I followed in my family's footsteps. When it comes to being a combat pilot, it's in my blood."
As Enterprise listened in, she felt a bit of deja vu since Trigger's family - Cipher and Mobius 1 were Aces that fought in wars, but while Cipher retired, Mobius 1 still flew and was the one to mentor Trigger when the Osean pilot joined the IUN-PKF.
That's when Long Caster's voice spoke, "This concludes the combat exercise for this morning. To those who have to do push-ups, be sure to get done in time for lunch."
The five aircraft got into formation with Rooster taking the lead as Trigger and Mav were ahead of the rookies. Hornet stated,
"That was a good exercise for those pilots, you think we could put them through the training of launching their modern planes from our flight decks?"
The second of the Yorktown sisters wasn't surprised by her statement since Trigger took off from her flight deck during the first battle on the 7th. She stated,
"It's possible for land-based planes to land on a carrier deck, but with some difficulty. But if that were to occur, then the OFS Admiral Andersen could be the testbed for the exercise. But they would be equipped with different planes."
As they saw each plane land, New Jersey asked, "You think there will be any sorties today?"
"I don't know since the last attack was a means of trying to keep us on the defensive. But with the Allied Counterattack on Red Axis and preparations for the upcoming invasion of the Philippines, we're just sitting idle."
The battleship added, "But aside from the normal attack preparations, we're just waiting until something comes up where we have to go on a combat sortie."
Enterprise understood this and changed the subject, "But there's also the fact of the history between Maverick and Rooster since the Commander was told by Penny at the bar at Pearl Harbor a few days ago."
NJ remembered, "How can I forget the history of those two. He and Lieutenant Bradshaw's dad, Goose, were best friends, but died during a training exercise gone wrong."
"Goose was killed when their F-14 was in an unrecoverable flat spin and they ejected, but the rear seat launched before the canopy could clear the plane - snapping Goose's neck. After he died, Maverick felt responsible and had a confidence problem, only for Viper, a veteran pilot who was a Top Gun instructor, to give him useful advice which made him show up to graduate with his Top Gun class. Then came the SS Layton Incident which made Maverick choose between thinking and doing, but he was able to down three MiGs and save his wingman, Iceman."
The battleship stated, "That's rough, but you think that with Rooster following in his dad's footsteps, you'd think that Maverick would have been like a father figure, but Rooster doesn't seem to like Maverick that much."
"Don't worry about Mav being a father figure, he's a great dad even when he doesn't want to admit it."
That was said by Bataan as she sat on the wings of the CFA-44 as her appearance made them jump a bit. Hornet asked,
"How long were you up there?"
The light carrier answered, "Since this plane was pulled from the hangar."
New Jersey was surprised and asked, "How did we not see you?"
"I was sitting on top of the plane and kept really quiet."
The three had to admit that she did catch them by surprise as they were so focused on the fight that they didn't notice the light carrier relaxing on top of the CFA-44. But the Grey Ghost asked,
"You've spent most of your time with Maverick while on the mainland, right?"
Bataan cheerfully said, "That's right and he looked out for me. He's been like a father to me, even though he doesn't like to admit it. It's almost like I have become his adopted daughter despite being a kansen. He taught me how to utilize other aircraft besides my usual F6F Hellcats which is why I was able to launch jets during the battle and taught me how to work on an actual airplane."
Hornet realized, "A kansen referring to a human as her father? That's something that you don't hear very often."
"There are some cases of humans caring for shipgirls like they were their own and I'm sure Maverick and I are not the only ones."
The light carrier chuckled as she recalled, "I accidentally called him 'Dad' when we were working on a P-51 that he keeps in a hangar that he lives in, and he nearly froze up."
This made the shipgirls feel a bit in awe of the way that Bataan saw Maverick. They were reborn from the hopes of humanity with memories of those who served them in their historical lives. Sister-Ships can bond with one another, but the lead ship is considered the one with the parental responsibility for their younger sisters although in some cases the roles are reversed.
But when the kansen would notice a family, they would see the love and care that a mother and father would give to their children. But the younger kansen would wish for a parental figure like a mother, father or even both.
Enterprise recounted a time when she and NJ sat down with Shinano and Musashi as the Yamato sisters recounted a time when Admiral Mako took the Yamatos in after their rebirth and treated them as his daughters. They even recounted a time where the Admiral's son would train with them for his military career with the SDF and they were saddened to learn that the Admiral's son was killed in action against the Sirens.
In many ways of these parental bonds between humans and kansen, the mistake was seeing kansen as military equipment rather than real people. But in the minds of people like Williams, Hisashi, Mako and a few others - kansen are alive as any other human being. They can do many things that humans do, they socialize, they love music, but they can form bonds between their sister ships and if Enterprise's dreams are correct - maybe they can even have children.
They were soon snapped out of their thoughts as Bataan inspected the plane that she was sitting on,
"I have to admit, this plane is impressive for its design and could take off from carriers. I wish to see it in action if we get the chance."
Enterprise pointed out, "Trigger once said that he saw this in a painting highlighting a duel between this plane and an F-15E. It was called 'Duel over Gracemeria.'"
The light carrier was confused about the name since she had recently been briefed about the situation of pilots from a different Earth, but she asked,
"Who flew this plane in that duel?"
"It was a pilot in the Estovakian Air Force named Ilya Pasternak who flew the CFA-44 to duel against Talisman, the Ace of the Republic of Emmeria Air Force during the Liberation of Gracemeria, the capital of Emmeria."
Bataan looked around the plane before looking back at the carrier and asked,
"Who won that duel?"
Enterprise answered, "It was Talisman who beat Pasternak in that duel between Aces. But before he entered the fight, the Lieutenant Commander ordered his squadron to retreat, acting as a rear guard so his wingmen would escape."
The light carrier asked, "And Trigger knows about all of this?"
"He does and aside from being an Ace Pilot, he looks at various historical moments in other wars."
Hornet chuckled, "A Cute Man, an Ace Pilot and now a Historian."
New Jersey soon noticed Trigger and Maverick standing before the pilots as Nevada issued them orders for their push-ups,
"But he also has to be the middleman for any tensions between Maverick and Rooster."
They all agreed as they watched the pilots do their push-ups and poor Hangman had to do 200 for that stunt, he did up there. But the kansen noticed that Trigger spotted the SDF pilot struggling with her push-ups as he partially unzipped his flight revealing the Osean tank top as he got down next to her as they heard him say,
"We'll do this together, just follow my lead."
When they saw Trigger and Orishina doing pushups, the kansen felt a little bit of jealousy as they saw him with her. The only thing they could hope for is that she had someone special waiting for her back at the Sakura Islands.
This was also noticed by Belfast who had arrived at the airfield to check in on the training exercises as well as checking up on her fellow maids assisting the grounded pilots in washing the planes, even chuckled at seeing Edinburgh lose control of a hose while trying to rinse a thoroughly lathered F-20 Tigershark as she went flying about with the hose, leading to Lanza, Jaeger and Skald to get the rogue hose under control and save her sister.
But her attention was back on the Osean and SDF pilot as she wondered,
"If she does get the heart eyes for him, then this would be a lot more interesting."
But she watched as the pilots continued their push-ups, Nevada was issuing the orders of 'down' and 'up' while the pilots who didn't get shot down first had watched before moving on.
The Head Maid turned her attention back to Trigger and Orishina as the SDF pilot had finished her push-ups thanks to the Osean pilot's guidance. As she and Trigger got to their feet, she thanked him for helping her out as well as training her in the ways of air combat. But Trigger stated,
"I have seen your file and the few combat missions that you have taken part in shows that you have the skills to become an Ace."
Orishina was humbled by the adulation from the Ace of Azur Lane. The SDF pilot knew that she's finished with her pushups as she thanked him once again and left, but as she left, Trigger noticed Belfast and made his way over to her.
As he approached her, he asked, "Is there something you need?"
The Head Maid held a cellphone which showed that a call was being received. She stated, "My apologies, Master, but Admiral Williams wishes to speak to you."
Trigger, knowing that this would be urgent, said, "This is probably about my proposal for the Kyoten Raid. I'll talk with him."
She handed him the phone as he asked, "Sir?"
Admiral Williams spoke, "Trigger, I've looked over your proposal for attacking the Orochi dry dock, it's an interesting reason to buy us time to reach Kyoten and end this war. The operation has been approved, but there's an urgent matter that needs your attention."
There was a pause before the Admiral continued, "Midway Island has been contacted by the Fortune Hunters, a privateer group employed by the Navy, they captured a Non-Gründer Freighter that was being held by the Sirens. The Privateers also rescued a survivor and uncovered the freighter's cargo, but they have also picked up a group of defectors from Red Axis, mainly the Mutsuki Destroyers from the Sakura, but leading them is Kaga."
That caught him by surprise because he was already aware that the white fox's intention of wanting to marry him, but to realize that she defected meant that Bismarck was aware that Kaga was at the base during the attack and saved his life from being shot down by Crimson 1. Then there was the fact that she was with a group of destroyers whose files did pass his desk a few times and looking at them - they were little girls with cat-like characteristics. It seems like Kaga might've made some new friends and wanted to take them with her when she left Kyoten.
But the other piece of information was that these privateers captured a Non-Gründer Freighter, since the Sirens were seemingly targeting Gründer Freighters to study whatever technology was aboard, but if a Non-Gründer Freighter was targeted - it means that something aboard got the Sirens' attention, he asked,
"Sir, did they send the report of the nationality of the survivor?"
The admiral stated, "They did, the survivor was an aviation scientist from the Democratic Republic of Leasath."
That caught him by surprise since Leasath had been in a state of civil war for years, he heard from his cousin in the Leasath Air Force that the fighting had subsided, but the country was impoverished. Before he was shipped out to Fort Grays, he heard from his uncle/mentor that Diego Navarro appointed himself as Leasath's Commanding Officer but was not looking to rebuild his nation.
Trigger recalled his mentor stating that his own 'Ace Senses' were tingling because of the situation in Leasath and was afraid for his wife's safety. Just as he left, Mobius 1 told him that he's contacted Trigger's other cousin in the Aurelian Air Force to go to Leasath and get his brother and mother out of there. The IUN-PKF listed it as a Top-Secret Mission by Colonel Bartlett, an Osean Flight Instructor and Veteran of both Belkan War and Circum-Pacific War.
By the time he heard back from his uncle/mentor, Trigger was resting up after the failed Chopinburg mission where he heard that both his cousins were able to get his aunt safely to Aurelia. His Leasath cousin had already been processed as an Aurelian citizen and joined his brother in the Air Force.
But aside from his extended family, the survivor was an aviation scientist which meant that the freighter was an aircraft transport. But with the value of the freighter's cargo and the defectors aboard - it meant that Red Axis will be hunting them. He asked,
"You want us to fly out to Midway and escort them here?"
"Yes, because Red Axis has detected their movements and a pursuit fleet is heading for the Fortune Hunters. Additionally, an Orgoi was detected from the Philippines, heading for the same location, but something was off about it."
The Ace asked, "What's off about it?"
The admiral explained, "The Orgoi is flashing a friendly IFF, more specifically Osean."
That was surprising that an Osean IFF would be transmitting from an Orgoi since he did shoot the last one down over Wake Island. But if this Orgoi is transmitting as an ally, then whoever is flying must be Osean, but it could also be a trap. The admiral stated,
"Your mission is to go to Midway and provide air cover for the Fortune Hunters' Aircraft Carrier and the freighter. Be on the lookout for that Orgoi, if it enters the AO, confirm its identification, what happens afterwards depends on if it's friendly or hostile.
Trigger nodded and said, "We'll get it done, sir."
He hung up as he looked at Belfast, "Tell Enterprise, Hornet, New Jersey, Javelin, Laffey and Musashi to gear up. I need to get my squadron formation ready."
The Head Maid knew what to do, "Understood, Master."
As she prepared to inform the others, Trigger added, "But also let Bataan, Hood, Ark Royal, Z23, Ayanami, Shinano, Helena, St. Louis and Edinburgh know to gear up. You as well, since you're coming with us."
The light cruiser acknowledged this as she left to inform the others.
Trigger informed his squadron of what's going on and that a new mission had come up. He also told Nevada about it as she and Maverick were supervising the push-ups and surprisingly, Orishina never left the airfield when the call came in.
He decided that Strider and Cyclops Squadron would sortie. But as for the pilots, Fencer chose his usual wingmen with Skald, Tailor and Lanza, but Trigger added Orishina and Maverick to the squadron as Cyclops 5 and Cyclops 6.
As for Trigger, he had his usual lineup of Count, Jaeger, Huxian, Tabloid and High Roller.
While Cyclops Squadron had their F-15s equipped with Pulse Laser Pods, Trigger had chosen each individual aircraft.
Trigger decided to take the CFA-44 equipped with the ADMMs in case they got in a pinch. After that, he went to Count as his number two asked,
"Trigger, which plane should I pick?"
He looked through the data pad that handled aircraft selections as he scrolled through the planes as he chose,
"Count, you're going to use the SU-33 Flanker-D."
His wingman agreed, "My old plane from my days in the 444? Sounds good to me, now how about my weaponry?"
"We could be looking at an Air-to-Air and Anti-Ship battle at the same time, you will be packing LASMs."
It was Jaeger's turn, "Trigger, have any ideas for the plane that I should pilot?"
A quick scroll through the datapad and Trigger figured, "The Typhoon with 8AAMs as your weaponry."
The family man stated, "The Typhoon is a fast plane and can hit hard as well."
Hüxian was next, "Trigger, which plane am I going up in?"
The Ace scrolled through the datapad as he came to, "The MiG-23 Fulcrum with 4AAMs equipped as your weaponry."
The female pilot agreed, "I can definitely go through with that plane."
Tabloid asked, "Trigger, which plane should I use?"
One scroll through the datapad and Trigger found the plane, "You're going to use the F-22 with the XSDBs equipped."
Tabloid figured, "Move fast and strike fast, I like it."
High Roller was last as he asked, "Got a plane for me, Trigger?"
He already had one, "You're flying an SU-57 with Guided Penetration Bombs as your secondary."
The gambler realized, "A 5th Gen Fighter and GPD, those are quite the odds."
As the five planes were rolled out next to each other with their selected armaments. Orishina asked,
"Sir, I know that I am with Cyclops Squadron, but I wish to use a different plane of your choosing. Which plane do you recommend for me?"
This was surprising since the SDF pilot had her own plane but requested a different plane. So, he looked at Fencer as he nodded before swiping to Cyclops Squadron's roster and pulling up a list of planes under Orishina's name. He soon picked the plane and the weaponry,
"Orishina, you're going to be using a YF-23 with 4AAMs."
The Sakura pilot recognized it, "The Black Widow, it's much faster than the Raptor, slightly less agile, but it's still combat capable."
Maverick soon spoke, "Trigger, which plane do you want me to pilot?"
He took a scroll through the datapad and picked the plane and weaponry,
"Maverick, you're flying an F-35C with the Stand-Off Dispensers as your secondary weapon."
The veteran realized, "The Lightning II was a plane known for its problems, but the plane has been improved during the years."
As all planes of both Strider and Cyclops Squadrons were side by side, Enterprise made her assessment,
"Both formations are suited for the multirole aspect of this operation, the Pulse Lasers and ADMMs will allow you to deal with both air and sea-based enemies. Are you ready to launch in these formations?"
Trigger looked at his squadron, then to Fencer and Cyclops Squadron as each pilot gave out a nod as Trigger announced,
"LRSSG, Launch!"
That's a wrap and a bit sad that there was a cliffhanger.
Yes, Chopper's alive and was kept by the Sirens for nine years. Now he and the three Iron Blood kansen have stolen an Orgoi to escape from the Philippines.
As for the Fortune Hunters, Amelia has examined the XFA-33 Fenrir and came to realize that this had Navarro's name written all over it, as well as schematics of other projects.
As for Trigger, he and Maverick conducted a two-on-two dogfight with the Top Gun grads as well as an SDF pilot who recently transferred to the base.
Fun Fact: Orishina originated from another Project ACES game, 'Sky Crawlers: Innocent Aces' a prequel to the Sky Crawlers movie which was based on a novel by Hiroshi Mori. In the series, there are clones who live forever in adolescence called 'Kildren' who are meant to be the perfect pilot - Orishina was one of them.
But the Orishina in this story is a human pilot, not a clone, considering her reaction when Trigger praised her skills and her road to becoming an Ace as well as Belfast's curiosity about it.
Afterwards, the Deep Strike mission to Kyoten was approved, but now the LRSSG has a mission to fly to the western defensive zone of Midway and provide cover for the Fortune Hunters as Red Axis closes in on them. Then there's the Orgoi flashing an Osean IFF which was suspicious.
I added Orishina and Maverick to Cyclops Squadron because Strider Squadron has six aircraft, figured I'd even things up. But as Jaeger says, "The formation changes after every mission."
I think it's time to update the list of the shipgirls of Trigger's unexpected harem.
Eagle Union: Enterprise, Hornet, Arizona, and New Jersey.
Sakura Empire: Akagi, Kaga, Zuikaku, Takao (hidden feeling), Atago (flirt), Junyou and Hakuryuu.
Royal Navy: Hood, Belfast, Prince of Wales and Ark Royal.
Iron Blood: Tirpitz, Prinz Eugen, Admiral Hipper (because she's a tsundere) and Prinz Heinrich.
Anyway, see ya in the next chapter!
Nighthawk Out!